Rosa w



(No Model.)

R. W. CASH. DRESS FASTENING STAY.

Patented Maf. 31,1896.

i? ik UNITED STATESY PATENT OFFICE.

ROSA W. CASH, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

DRESS-FASTEN l NG STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,252, dated March 31, 1896.

Application filed April 18, 1895- Seral No. 546,247. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ROSA WV. CASH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dress-Fastening Stays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to use the same.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in fasteners for coats, waists, cloaks, and the like, and has for its object to provide such device which shall be simple and durable in construction and by the use of which a garment is made to adapt itself to the form of the wearer without undue strain at any point and whereby pressure far in excess of that which it is possible to exert by the use of buttons or hooks and eyes may be brought to bear upon the wearers form to cause the same to assume the shape of the garment. This is especially advantageous in the case of tight-fitting seamless waists,where the principal object is to exhibit the form of the wearer to the best advantage.

Vith these ends in view my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claim; and in order that those skilled in the art to which it appertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describe its construction and operation in detail, referring by number to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l shows a perspective of my device before attaching to a garment; Fig. 2, a crosssection showing the method of attaching one of the open hooks and the arrangement of the steel; Fig. 3, a similar view showing one of the closedhooks Fig. 4.-, a cross-section illustrating a modified arrangement of the reinforcing strip and steel; Fig. 5, a modification in which the lacing-strips are extended and hooks and eyes used upon the upper portion, and Fig. 6 a section showing the mode of constructi'ng the completed strip. A

Similar numbers denote like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

My fastener is composed of the strips l and 2, each of which is formed by folding a sec- A tion of cloth 3, as shown-that is, first folding a fourth of the strip from both edges thereof inward, so that said edges meet in' the center of the strip, and then folding said strip along its center, so as to bring the sections first folded together. Vhen the cloth has thus been folded, a reinforcing-strip 4, of leather, braided, or other material in which the hooks vmay be secured and from which they cannot be easily withdrawn, is glued to the inner side of one of the folded sections, as shown in Fig. 6.

lO and l1 are hooks, each of the former having suiiicient space between its body and lip to permit the passage of the cord l2; but the lip of each of the hooks l1 is closed against its body, so that the cord must be threaded through the loop'formed thereby after the manner of an eye. These hooks are riveted through the upper section of the folded strip of cloth and reinforcing strip 4. Now by stitching the folded section together at 7 a shirr or pocket 8 will be formed, which I prefer to close at the bottom by stitching 9, and in this pocket is inserted the steel 13.

In attaching the strip to a garment the edges 14. are stitched to suitable Iiaps of said garment.

I prefer to arrange the hooks as shown in Fig. l, in which eleven of the closed hooks ll are placed upon the strip l equidistant from each other, except the two end ones, which are but half the distance from the ones next adjacent. The open hooks 10 are ten in number and placed upon the strip 2 equal distances apart, the ones at the top and bottom being opposite the top and bottom hooks ll and the others coming midway between the remaining hooks ll. This arrangement per- 'mits of the cord 12 being secured at the top and bottom to the top and bottom hook, respectively, of the series l1 of closed hooks for the purpose of convenience. v

The advantage of arranging the cord upon the upper surface of the strip l is that it may be easily caught by the finger to engage-the loops with the hooks 10, and as the hooks 11 are closed the cord will be retained inthe proper position for use.

In use I have found that it is usually only necessary to extend the hooks and cord from the lower edge of a waist to within about one- IOO third of the top thereof, as this is the only portion on which any considerable strain comes; but in order to close the remaining portion of the garment the strips may be extended up and the ordinary hooks and eyes used, as shown in Fig. 5, in Which case it is not necessary to extend the steel above the hooks 10 and l1.

By extending the reinforcing-strip 4 back to the Width of the steel and placing said steel thereon a ledge is formed above the surface to which the hooks are attached, so as to have the effect of partly countersinking said hooks in order that they may not impress their form upon the goods that covers them and their presence be made manifest; but the strip may end at `the pocket or shirr and the steel be inserted in said pocket between the folded sections of the cloth only.

I am aware that lacing-hooks have been used for fastening shoes, gloves, corsets, and the like, and I do not lay claim, broadly, to such devices; but

Vhat I do claim as new and useful is- A dress-fastening stay comprising a casin g having secured thereon and iiush with the front edge thereof a stiffening-strip carrying a series of hooks which extend through to the casing, said strip being reinforced by a resilient stiffener at the rear of the casing the casing having attaching-flaps projecting from the rear edge thereof, as and for the purpose described.

ROSA XV. CASU.

lVitnesses:

C. N. LARNER, R. L. DUTToN. 

